Fenders are commonly provided on various types of vehicles for managing and containing water and debris sprayed or thrown upwardly from the rotating wheels of the vehicle. In the instance of a highway truck tractor, the front wheel fenders are typically incorporated into the body panels of the cab, however the rear wheels at the rear of the vehicle are either exposed, or only partially enclosed by external fenders. The rear portion of the frame of the highway truck tractor, which is located between the rear wheels, supports a fifth wheel hitch thereon for connection to a trailer. Fender mounting arms protrude laterally outwardly from opposing sides of the rear portion of the frame to support the rear fenders suspended above the rear wheels.
The choice of fenders typically include: i) a single fender, or single axle double radius fender, in which a single curved panel extends about a respective wheel; ii) a half tandem fender, or single radius fender, in which a panel includes a first portion curved from the front to a top of the wheel over part of the radius of the wheel and a second portion extending linearly rearward from the first portion over at least one axle; and iii) a full tandem fender, or dual axle double radius fender, having a first portion curved up and rearward about a first wheel, a second portion extending horizontally rearward over both axles, and a third portion curved downward and rearward about a second wheel.
The different fender types, particularly full tandem fenders, are desirably available in numerous different lengths to accommodate different axle spacings if spanning over dual axle rear wheels. To minimize the number or parts to be manufactured and supplied, various manufacturers have attempted to manufacture half tandem fenders which can be abutted in pairs to form full tandem fenders. Furthermore, linear extension pieces in some instances are known to be mounted in series between two half tandem fenders to produce a longer full tandem fender using similar parts. The fender sections are typically provided with an integral end flange which is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fender so as to be abutted and fastened to the integral end flange of an adjacent fender section. The flexing of the integral end flanges relative to the main longitudinally extending portions of the respective fender sections however tends to produce a resulting fender assembly which is prone to sagging at the abutted connection between adjacent sections. Furthermore, the fender sections cannot be trimmed to length because the integral end flanges are essential for joining adjacent sections such that numerous fender sections must be manufactured with different lengths, otherwise an even weaker fender assembly will result from the use of more fenders sections in series to accommodate the length adjustment.